Vigils, masses and parades are fine for Easter, but in the Ortega de Santa Cruz village in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, the people stick to its own Easter tradition of chasing after crocodiles.
Residents of the remote community in the huge Guanacaste province blame the Comision Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) for destroying the natural habitat of the crocs, as well as giant clam shells, fish, herons, parrots and parakeets, resulting from canalization work on the rivers Palmas and Charco.
During the event, brave “lagarteros” faced enormous reptiles along the Palma river, ending up in a deep cave, where the prey was cornered: a snarling, five-metre female crocodile. It took two hours of struggle to finally tie down the reptile
The lagarteada was supervised by members of the ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAET), the environmental government agency.
The day’s catch was taken on the shoulders of the lagarteros to the village for all to see up the close. The reptile will be on show until today, Easter Sunday, when it will be released back into the wild, unharmed.
The “lagarteada” has been observed in Ortega since the 19th century without interruption, despite attempts by animal rights groups to have it outlawed by the constitutional court.
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